Imagery is an integral part of marketing a business, while there is Facebook for dialogue, Twitter for PR, LinkedIn for professionals, YouTube for multimedia there wasn’t a imagery based social media site that had radically caught the imagination of the public for mass usage. Take to the stage, Pinterest now the third largest social network in the US according to ComScore. In essence Pinterest is a digital pinboard for social photo sharing of own imagery (pinning) or imagery found around the internet or on Pinterest (repining) that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections.
Pinterest’s appeal seems to lie in integration with existing social media sites that the masses have signed up to namely Facebook and Twitter. It marketed itself as an application to existing social media initially which was clever as it created a viral affect but now it has established itself as its own entity among the social media family. So what should you do on Pinterest? Is it just another new phenomenon that will fade like Foursquare or will it have longevity like Facebook?
For hotels it makes sense to have a profile and have a number of Pinterest boards of your offerings such as pin boards of accommodation, location, nearby attractions, restaurant, wedding facilities, staff pictures. It should be treated as an informal extension of the photo gallery that is on your website with images that engage and showcase the brand's persona. The beauty of Pinterest is that you don’t need to maintain it the way Twitter and Facebook seem neglected if they are not updated frequently and as logging in through Twitter and Facebook is a prerequisite to the site it also means that it is an extension of your existing strategy rather than another medium to update. How to make the most of Pinterest?
- Ad the Follow Pinterest button to the rest of your social media icons on your site.
- Include the Pin it Share button on your photo gallery to encourage sharing Ad Pinterest as an application on Facebook, this on your Facebook page and also make sure to link any updates made on Pinterest with Facebook
- Pinterest can be added as a plug in on your site to add more content
- Pinterest has huge viral potential. Images are more likely to be the media of viral marketing than any other type of media including videos. So Pinterest is an ideal medium to execute images that have the potential to go viral with a little creativity
- Pin from a variety of different sources as opposed to one specific site. Variety of images will make your overall Pinterest account more compelling. Without a doubt, re-pinning, liking, and commenting is going to play a role in where your images appear.
There is also a real SEO benefit to Pinterest more than most other social media sites as both Google and Bing are indexing images from the site on their respective image search engines. Pinterest unlike Facebook (at the moment) it does not change the file name of the image when uploades so make sure the file name of your image contains your targeted key phrase example “5-star-london-hotel-accommodation.jpg" rather than "0095.jpg." Further after uploading an image, edit the pin to change description to be more SEO as well as human friendly. So essentially it has become the YouTube for imagery and while Foursquare was based on deals and discounting this is about showcasing your product.
